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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoKyle Robertson | dispatchWil Trapp, front left, went from an elite college program at Akron to the Crew, which likely will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

A year’s worth of change has brought about an unusual feeling for two Crew rookies.

At this time last season, Chad Barson and Wil Trapp were more than midway through what would be
their final season of collegiate soccer at Akron. The Zips, at 8-1-2, were ranked third in the
nation and six games into what would become a 16-game unbeaten streak that would last until the
third round of the NCAA tournament.

With two games left in their rookie MLS season, Barson and Trapp face an entirely different
situation this year. When Wednesday’s practice session was over, players entered a four-day break
from team responsibilities, knowing that the Crew could be eliminated from postseason contention by
the time they gather again on Monday at the team’s facility in Obetz.

“I think that’s how professional sports go,” Barson said. “A lot of times you’ll go to college
and run the table, get results each and every week and win nearly every game.

“The playing field is really leveled in a professional atmosphere. You can’t expect to win every
game.”

As a sophomore, Barson was a starter in Akron’s 1-0 win over Louisville that gave the Zips their
first national championship in any sport. Trapp joined him a year later, and together they helped
lead the Zips to a pair of Mid-American Conference championship games before they signed with the
Crew as homegrown players last offseason.

In addition to his success in college, Trapp has spent much of his career playing for U.S.
national youth teams, most recently helping the Under-20s qualify for the 2013 World Cup.

Both have played themselves into the Crew lineup. Trapp has started the plast 14 games, and
Barson has made 19 appearances and 17 starts.

So both have had firsthand views of a season that slowly slipped away from the Crew and
ultimately cost coach Robert Warzycha his job. A three-game winning streak under interim coach
Brian Bliss came to a halt with last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to Sporting Kansas City.

“It’s a little different,” Trapp said. “Any time you’re fighting, I relish that when your back’s
against the wall. We just have to keep focused and keep doing what we’re doing. The win streak was
going to come to an end sometime; it just happened to be (last) weekend.”

Bliss said the playoff hunt can weigh on the team’s younger players who are accustomed to
experiencing team success.

“They all have their own approach to it, and in their own way they fight through it and at least
seem to be rising to the occasion,” Bliss said. “There’s not much extra we can pile on or take off
their plate, because they’re pretty good pros at their age.”